Speechify

Bleh.

Speech last night didn't go as well as I'd hoped. Deliverly wise I didn't get any negative feedback. But I came in at 4 minutes on a 5 minute speech. Which wasn't good, considering that I'd be coming in a 4.5 minutes during rehearsal. And that was without my visual aids.

So either I raced through the speech like a small town driver on a back road or I jettisoned a fifth of my speech.

Query. Which is worse, being a minute short, or two minutes over? I'm inclined to say the former.

Anyway here's the speech.

I’ve been playing Ultimate Frisbee for a little over four years now and I’m often asked to run down the basics of the game to interested individuals. The best way I’ve found to describe the sport is that it’s a combination between basketball and football, only played with a Frisbee disc.

Like basketball, Ultimate Frisbee teams place five players on the field. Each individual player is allowed to have contact with, handle and throw the disc in any direction they choose. However, a key departure between Ultimate Frisbee and basketball is that when a player is in possession of a disc they must have one foot planted on the ground at all times. Players are absolutely not allowed to run with the disc.

Ultimate Frisbee’s football influences come primarily from the makeup of the field the game is played on, as well as how points are scored during the game. As in football, there is larger a field of play sandwiched between two smaller end zones. Players attempt to move the disc up and down the field of play towards the other team’s end zone. Teams acquire a single point at a time by catching the disc in the opposing team’s end zone.

Now that I’ve outlined the basics of how they game is played I’m going to demonstrate the three most common throws.

The first throw is called the backhand and I imagine that its one most people in the class might recognize. The backhand is the simplest throw there is in the game. If you’re tossing a disc at a picnic or just goofing around with friends, chances are you’re throwing the backhand.

To throw the backhand a player will curl all their fingers underneath the lip of the disc and hold it in firmly in place with their thumb on the Frisbee’s topside. To release the disc the player moves their arm across the front of their body and releases the Frisbee with a flick of their wrist just shy of their arm’s maximum extension. This is the most powerful way to throw a backhand. To achieve more accuracy from their throw a player will place their index finger along the rim of the disc. This will make the throw less powerful, but it gives the thrower more control when they release it. The backhand throw is best used for beginning players.

After mastering the backhand most players often choose to learn the forehand throw, more commonly know as the flick. To throw a flick simply make a ‘V’ with your index and middle finger, just like a 60‘s style peace sign. Tuck your middle finger firmly under the rim of the disc and once again the disc is sandwiched firmly in place by your thumb. To release the disc tuck your elbow into your side, rotate your arm so that your wrist faces upward and let go of the disc with a firm snapping motion of your wrist. The majority of the power in this throw comes from your wrist. There should be very little, if any, actual movement of your arm. The flick is the best all-purpose throw in the game, easily thrown over a variety of distances with varying degrees of power.

Now the biggest drawback to these first two throws is that they are released roughly parallel to the field you are playing on. What this means is that if I want to make a backhand throw or a forehand throw to one of my teammates in the end zone I need to make sure there are no opposing players between me and him. Otherwise the chances are fairly high that the opposing player will catch the disc instead of my teammate and we’ll lose possession of the Frisbee.

This is where the third throw I’m going to discuss today comes in, the hammer. To throw a hammer a player grips the disc just like the flick. But that is where the similarity ends. To release a hammer throw the player holds the disc overtop their head at a 90 degree angle, like a plastic Mohawk, and makes a quick cutting motion with their wrist, releasing the Frisbee just in front of their forehead. The hammer is not a very accurate throw and is only really used for larger distances. The major upside to the hammer is that players are able to throw the disc down the entire length of the field, overtop of the heads of their opponents, giving skilled throwers a distinct advantage in playing the game.

Now that you’ve seen the basic throws used in Ultimate Frisbee maybe I’ve enticed you to give the game itself a shot.

I certainly hope so.

Thank you.